Once: Forbidden Thoughts
by Band10hut
Summary: Once. Once in a while she speaks a forbidden thought. Once every so often she remembers. Once in a lifetime she loved someone so passionately. Once Grammy Norma reminisces. Once. A Lorax Movie Fanfiction. Norma X Once-ler.
1. Chapter 1

Old, weak, senile, couldn't even remember her teeth. That was Grammy Norma. Short and plump like a partridge without its pear tree. Tree...

"Truffula trees," she'd catch herself mumbling under her breath once in a while. Rarely, but every so often one must speak the forbidden words. She learned that many years ago, when secrets possessed greater power and danger. So she spoke it, treating herself. "Truffula tree, Truffula tree..."

How nicely it rolled off her tongue. How nicely its tufts felt in her thneeds...oh the thneed. How nice a pinkish thneed looked around _his_ neck, always wrapped there to remind _him_ of _his_ beginnings...

"Thneed," she muttered. "Tree...I wish he hadn't done it."

This was all his fault, wasn't it? The plastic prison disguised as a paradise, the barren wasteland beyond the wall, even their supposedly benevolent master might not have been able to seize power if it weren't for him.

"Your fault, your fault..." Yes his fault, but not his alone.

"My fault, my fault..." She only encouraged him. She let him jeopardize every living creature in the area, including her. She praised his accomplishments, assured him everything would be fine...where would they be if she hadn't buried him in false hopes?

Then again, he had an undeterred sense of optimism. Norma knew he would stop at nothing to get his horrid family's admiration, whether it meant dooming a wilderness or casting aside his promises. Love truly was blind.

Blind. Her glasses were no longer effective. The pollution, her age, the plastic suffocating her soul took a toll on her health. Her once beautiful red ringlets now curled into a gray puff. Though she had never been tall, Norma knew she shrunk quite a bit. Now and then she wondered if _he_ would recognize her now.

Jodi, her only child, lived in blissful ignorance. Like a child. If only she could have stayed a child forever as well. But reality made her a century older than her physical age. Though Jodi's innocence annoyed her at times, it brought more relief than pain. Jodi could live without fear in Thneedville while still carrying her mother's latent strength. It had been hard enough raising her without _him_ , the father.

Oh how she looked like him! The ebony hair, the scattered freckles, the childish optimism. If anyone resembled him better, it would be Jodi's own son, Ted! Watching him grow up brought back memories of a boy not so different who lived a long long time ago.

Though _he_ landed them in this state of brainwashed, literally artificial happiness, Norma loved _him_. As young whippersnappers, they'd been bosom friends, frolicking across the grassy plains of their hometown. Shining sun, twittering birds, blue skies-, a summer haze perfectly summed up their relationship then. The only cloud on the horizon would be his family, that dreadful mother who refused to show any love for him. Not exactly to the point of abuse, but her parenting seriously lacked whatever it took to be a decent mother.

Even when they reached adulthood, when Norma rounded out into a plump young lady while he resembled a telephone pole more than a man, they remained close. Violet sunsets tinged with gold, secret whispers among the wind, fireflies surrounding them in a magical aura...those things made up their young love. But his optimism got in the way, so he set out on a ridiculous quest to make his thneed in hopes of making his ungrateful mother proud.

While he rode his wagon out west, Norma cooked and cleaned at home. She waited for days, not receiving one letter. She knew not where he went nor whether he'd come back. It depressed her. But one morning her father came running with exciting news: they could become rich! Her sweetheart hit the jackpot selling thneeds made out of Truffula trees! Giddy, they packed all they had and moved to the paradise he found.

Oh what beauty! Emerald lawns, sapphire water, trees like lollipops! Norma couldn't remember a single bad thing about reuniting with her beloved. Except for, of course, his optimism about cutting the trees down. But why spoil happy days with worries? How bad could one fallen tree be?

One tree fell after another. Money flowed faster than the river, which turned from a rich azure to a stagnant black. The critters that roamed the forest vanished. A city sprung up, based off making thneeds. Rich beyond his wildest dreams, he became more and more cheerful. But too much cheer brings carelessness. Carefree-ness. Callousness.

Green. Not the pastel greens of their childhood romps or summer romance, but the green of money. He now dressed only in green, save for that pink thneed. Thneeds were abundant; after all, twas called Thneedville for a reason. Norma had more thneeds than her closet could hold, but she paid for not even one; each had been a gift from him, for giving him the hope that he could make it this far.

Norma could describe this point in their relationship as one thing: concerning. She fretted about many things. Her dad's ailing health, the environment, her beloved... was he truly the boy she fell in love with? He gave her attention and material wealth, but his mind seemed preoccupied with the numbers in his account. So much to the point where Norma constantly considered throwing the thneeds back at him and leaving. But love makes one blind, so she stayed.

Of course, that period ended when the last tree crashed to the ground. Everyone left; his family dumped him with no qualms. Only those who could not afford to leave remained, including Norma and her widowed mom. Her now partner's proud green suit sagged from sadness. Smog dyed the sky black, working its way into everyone's lungs. Devoid of joy, life, and trees, a somber reality set in.

Finally, for the first time since they reunited, Norma yelled at him. She shouted why, why did you ruin this landscape? Why did you not listen to the orange creature who warned you? Why did your love blind you?

Love...for his nonreciprocating family, for his fame, for money... her own love for him blinded her from the truth.

First startled, next angry, eventually saddened, he walked away. Unable to bear the consequences of the damage he'd done, he vanished.

"I loved you," he said, just before leaving. "I suppose we forgot ourselves. I am going to find the old me; you find the old Norma. When we have found them, go to where the grass doesn't grow. Bring a great grandfather snail, fifteen cents, and a nail. You may find him yet again." She never saw him again.

Life only got harder after that. Sickness, hunger, and poverty clouded her world. Her mother developed a cough so bad one evening that she did not wake up the next morning. Lonely, starving, clothed in rags...all she saw was gray. Grayness of despair, doom, death. She hated him. If he hadn't left to seek his fortune just three years ago, this might never have occurred.

Yet Norma was not alone. Small signs, like dizziness, came at first. Then sickness every morning. Finally it became visibly clear; he left her with a child.

Just as this good news arrived, so did misfortune. A new fellow called O-Hare found a way to sell fresh air to people. But only those who offered money or services could buy. Most had neither. Then came an even odder trade: raising babies. Poor families who could not afford air had the option to give O'Hare their small children, who would receive fresh air, but those who refused suffocated with their babies. Parental love led most to do what would ensure their children's lives. Others disappeared, so O'Hare got the orphans anyway.

For Norma, relinquishing her child was out of the question. She need air, yes, but she needed the baby as well. Several other young mothers, some divorced and some not, agreed. A little "club" formed, one based on survival. Pregnant and heroic, they'd steal plastic containers of oxygen. Though they longed to sabotage O'Hare once and for all, his toadies greatly outmatched them.

Sometime before her due date, Norma moved away from the barren wastelands with the club. Thanks to the money her beloved left, a walled city known as Thneedville became a viable living space. Desperate, people eagerly moved in. They seemed satisfied; the air drastically improved, the colors came back. Yet Norma felt troubled; a town completely made of plastic, made in a factory! Strange incidents kept happening. A lady or gent would speak out about trees or complain about the plastic tarp that covered the dirt; not too long afterwards, they'd find themselves in the ground. Suspicions abounded, but none could be proven. Thneedville survived this way for almost a year until the completion of the wall, the finishing touch on their prison. This was the place she brought her only child into.

Norma held Baby Jodi in her arms the day ninety-eight percent of the residents over fifteen dropped dead. Innocent parents angry that their children hadn't been returned to them breathed their last. Teenagers, whose new eyes gave Norma hope, let their eyelids flutter shut forever. A terrible plague caused by trees had killed them, according to O'Hare. But she knew the "plague" came from bad air in his morning delivery.

Thanks to the death of almost every adult, the young generation grew up under O'Hare's thumb. They never romped through grass or climbed a tree. They worshiped their "father" of sorts like a god. He seemed like a god at times, always orbiting above them in his nasty blimp.

Suddenly relieved her clandestine romance was unknown to even O'Hare, Norma used her wild imagination to build a new persona. She laughed more, getting into all sorts of minor mischief. Not enough to cause any real damage, but enough to let everyone take her for an idiot. One who could never pose a threat to O'Hare.

So many lives lost...all because of him.

She'd gotten used to this manufactured lifestyle, but in her heart a deep yearning for the natural ways cut like a jagged knife. The summer evenings of rock'n'roll, when he'd play for her. The fireflies lighting the way, those good times on the plains where trees were scarce, doubling their value. She liked trees, yes, but she preferred fewer trees; it made them more special.

Thirty years of pretending, watching Jodi grow up, taking her and Ted in when her husband "disappeared" after badmouthing O'Hare, and squelching these forbidden thoughts became habit. But one evening, at dinner, Ted (Lord, how did he look so much like his grandfather?) asked a strange question: where can I find a tree?

Tree. When did she last hear someone speak of a real tree? A secret smile played across her lips. Norma used her quick mind to dismiss poor Jodi before pouring out her secrets. Some of them.

"You need to find the Once-ler." Once. Once in a lifetime you find a love that blinds you. Once in a lifetime you fall for someone equally blind. Once in a thousand years that special someone ruins your life along with countless others. Once in an era you get to find that someone again. Once. Once again, for the first time in thirty years, she spoke _his_ name.

"Once-ler."


	2. Chapter 2

"How'd it go?" Grammy asked when Ted returned from his outing. Jodi was sound asleep in her room, frustrated from fruitlessly searching for Norma's teeth and totally unaware that her son had left at all.

"Really weird," he muttered, sounding rather displeased. "He didn't tell me how to get a tree. He didn't even come out of his house! He has all these weird contraptions that grab you. It stinks out there, and I have to go back tomorrow to hear the rest of his story." Ted rambled on his room while his grandmother tucked him in. Though he had turned twelve two months ago, he didn't mind getting babied by his grammy.

"Oh," she replied to each complaint. "How very exciting."

"I can't believe how he's making me come back tomorrow," Ted finished, his eyelids drooping. "But I need a tree for- for Audrey...ugh." He yawned before drifting off instantaneously.

"Just like your grandfather," Norma whispered tenderly as she waddled out. "If only you got to know him before...oh never mind."

With the town slumbering, the old woman took the time to go outside. She developed a habit of doing this ever since she was a young girl, and while no nature could be find save for the occasional bug, the night sky brought a familiar constancy.

"Even O'Hare can't steal you," Norma murmured to the sky. Not a star twinkled; the light pollution along with the smog blurred them out. Still, twas the night sky, her oldest friend. Even older than him.

 _"I wish you hadn't taken the bet!" Adelaide Wiggins swiped the dishes off their mahogany table furiously. "Then we wouldn't be here, slaving away in this hovel. All we've left of the good old days is this table!"_

 _"Now Adelaide, we got each other."_

 _"You even talk like a peasant! What's the matter with you?"_

 _"Adelaide."_

 _"We're not peasants. We might be living like peasants, but both of us come from very fine families of good reputation, class, and, well formerly, good fortune."_

 _"We're lucky I'm not in debtor's jail."_

 _"Indeed. We're in another kind of jail. How's Norma to afford finishing school now? Even if we found a way to make up the money, we'd never be able to hold our heads high again. We're ruined, socially and financially. I hope you know what you've done for our daughter, Henry."_

 _"Adelaide, please."_

 _"Don't." His wife flounced off to her room. Henry sighed before taking another sip of weak tea. Eight year old Norma huddled in her chair, unsure of what to do. She hated it when her parents yelled; it made her fear the worst._

 _"Norma, know that Mommy and I still love each other," Henry consoled the frightened child. "She's just upset. We all miss home and not having to work."_

 _"I miss Nanny." Norma held back tears, thinking of her dearest friend. "I hate having to go to school. I wish we had a governess."_

 _"We can't afford one, love."_

 _"I know. But I wish."_

 _"We have our blessings. Mommy and me are still together. We have a home that can be beautiful, just like Wiggins Manor."_

 _"Now it's Wexler Manor, ever since that mean man beat you at cards."_

 _"I shouldn't have betted my house and money on a game of poker, sweetheart. Never go into gambling, understand?"_

 _"Yes Daddy. Are we broke?"_

 _"Almost, but not quite. We've still got a chance." He kissed her forehead lightly. "Now go to bed. Everything will look better in the morning."_

 _"I have to go to school in the morning."_

 _"Oh, but there's lots of girls."_

 _"They're mean. They don't like rich girls. That's what they call me. 'Rich girl,'" she spat._

 _"You just have to get to know them. It'll work itself out. It always does."_

 _"It did when I was rich. But I'm poor now. So it won't happen." Norma stood up defiantly. "I am going to bed now. Nothing's going to be better in the morning. So don't say so."_

 _"Norma, watch your tone. Remember you're lady."_

 _"Why should I? We're peasants, aren't we?"_

 _"Norma." Henry's eyebrows knitted together. "I don't like this new attitude."_

 _"I don't like that you lost our home."_

 _"You sound just like your mother."_

 _"Well maybe you're the reason why!" Norma stomped her foot angrily before running to her room._

 _"Norma! Come here!"_

 _"I'm already in bed!" she shouted, hastily crawling under the covers._

 _"Norma!"_

 _"Henry, what's going on?" Adelaide wearily peeked out from her room. "Norma, what's all this shouting about?"_

 _"Norma's being smart. I need to discipline her. Norma!"_

 _"I'm in bed, I'm in bed," the child adamantly protested._

 _"You require a paddling." Henry shoved her door open. "Now get out of that bed or I'll give you ten extra swats." Reluctantly Norma climbed out from under the covers. She obediently followed her father to the barren living room, where he took a belt from a nail on the wall and beat her bottom with it. She bit her lip, trying not to cry in front of her father. Adelaide simply leaned against the door frame, hardly acknowledging her husband or daughter._

 _"That's enough, Henry," the mother finally declared after the fifteenth swat. "She won't be able to sit properly if you thrash her too hard. Norma, go to bed. Henry, I hope you'll find a job tomorrow."_

 _"Alright. Norma, good night. Have a good tomorrow." Her parents retired to their room while Norma returned to her mussed bed. Finally having some privacy, she let the tears fall._

 _Not fair! She didn't ask Daddy to gamble away his estate, money, and business. She didn't ask him to buy a scrappy shack in the middle of nowhere far away from home. She didn't ask for any of this; NOT FAIR!_

 _"I'm not going to school tomorrow," she decided. "I'm running away." Taking only her diary, her favorite doll, and a spare pair of underwear, Norma pushed the rickety wooden shutters open. Cautiously she eased out the window before hopping on the ground. Thinking only of ditching school, she happily sprinted across the emerald grass into the dark mass ahead._

 _She'd go back home to Grandfather! He hated his son, her father, but he loved her dearly. When Daddy chose to move out here, he offered to take Norma in. Henry selfishly refused, wanting to keep his family together, but if Norma got back to him, he couldn't say no! She could go to finishing school, be a lady, attend lavish balls, the stuff her mother did..._

 _Fireflies flitted through the tall grasses as Norma trudged along. The gentle wind brought a chill, but she ignored it. The majestic royal blue sky rolled out above, sprinkled with cosmic purple stardust and the stars themselves, sparkling like, well, the stars. What a beautiful companion._

 _Norma didn't know how long she walked before hunger gnawed at her stomach. The stars twinkled absentmindedly overhead, but everything ached. Dried blood and dirt caked her sore feet. A petulant thirst screamed in the back of her throat, begging for water. Now she wondered why she hadn't thought to bring food or drink. Even the necessary shoes slipped her mind, as well as a map to Grandfather's mansion._

 _"I'm lost," she realized. "But no one knows I've left, so no one can find me." Adults always said to stay put if you got lost. Somehow the eight-year-old knew those rules couldn't apply to her case._

 _"Girl! Hey you!" A boy running toward her. No, her father. Oh, it was too dark to see! Weak from hunger pains Norma tried to shout, but the words caught in her dry throat._

 _"Dad-dy..."_

 _"Girl!" One moment she saw her father, the next her mother. Shape shifters, perhaps some evil fairy who snatched bad little girls, like the ones Grandfather told stories about._

 _"I-I" Norma's eyes rolled to the back of her head as she fainted, falling right into the random person's arms._

 _000_

 _"Hey, you awake?" A peaked face observed her. Round blue eyes, pudgy nose, black bangs. A fairy for certain._

 _"What?" Norma attempted to sit up, but sudden pains in her whole beings forced her to lay back down._

 _"Here. Eat this." A bowl of golden broth appeared before her. Slowly, the boy fed her spoonfuls of this delicacy. Norma swallowed heartily. This reminded her of being served back home._

 _"That's much better; thank you," she breathed happily. The hunger and thirst no longer chewed away at her insides. Her muscles still lacked much strength, but small improvements seemed vast._

 _"You were out on the prairie all by yourself; you're super lucky I found you." He stood. "I'm Once."_

 _"Once?" Odd name._

 _"Yep. My nickname. Don't call me Oncie, though. Mom calls me that; I hate it."_

 _"I would too."_

 _"Yeah. Who are you?"_

 _"Norma. Norma Wiggins."_

 _"Hey, you're that rich girl who moved here." Norma cringed, the conversation suddenly having gone sour._

 _"I'm not a rich girl; we're poor now."_

 _"Geez, okay, I didn't know, I just-"_

 _"Forget it. You don't get it."_

 _"Hey, I saved your life."_

 _"I know, thank you." Norma fed herself the rest of the day. Once fetched his mother, a petite woman with voluminous blonde hair._

 _"You poor thing, lost out here. I'm so glad Oncie found you. Your parents must be terrified; I bet they'd give anything to have their baby back." She smiled thoughtfully. Norma recognized the greedy glint in her eyes._

 _"Ma, do her parents even know she's here?"_

 _"When they do, they'll be most grateful, won't they?" Once's mother left the little bedroom to check on something. Once rolled his eyes._

 _"I hate it when Mom does this."_

 _"Does what?"_

 _"Acts like a-a, never mind." He slumped into chair next to her. "So how'd you get out here?"_

 _Norma considered telling him to back off, but she didn't feel like getting thrown out anytime soon. She wasn't much good at lying either. So the girl spilled it._

 _"My father thrashed me," she blurted out. "I sassed him because he gambled away our house and money. We had to move out here since Grandfather wouldn't take us all in, only me, and Dad didn't want that. I hate school, they make fun of me, so I ran. You found me when I fell."_

 _"You fainted; I thought you died." Once shook his head. "I'm sorry those girls are mean. I go to the same school; you know, we could be friends."_

 _"What?"_

 _"Friends. You know, I talk to you and you talk to me. I can play you my guitar!"_

 _"Guitar?"_

 _"Yeah, my dad showed me when I was real little. Wanna see?"_

 _"Sure?"_

 _"I'll go get it!" He leaped off his chair so quickly that it titled and almost fell. Norma rested her head against the lumpy pillow while Once scurried off. He returned triumphantly with a handsome electric guitar, chipped from years of use but still useful._

 _"That's your dad's?"_

 _"It was until he left." Once paused, realizing he shouldn't have bared such an intimate thought so soon after they met. "But now it's mine." He lightly strummed the thick strings, humming a tune._

" _I will remember you_

 _Will you remember me?_

 _Don't let your life_

 _Pass you by..."_

 _Norma had never beholden such beauty. So raw, so passionate, so sweet. An innocent country tune about sappy topics, such as life, love, memory... A great surging in her chest squeezed a few droplets from her dark eyes._

" _Don't let your life_

 _Pass you by_

 _Weep not for the memories"_

 _Once finished his song with a grand strum on the old guitar. Norma wiped her eyes, trying to comprehend this new feelings washing across her like ocean waves. Crushing, yet calming, piercing, yet pleasing...she didn't care for it. It induced too many tears._

 _"Once, what are you doing?" His mother barged in. "Get that guitar out of here and don't bug Miss Norma. I won't have her telling her parents what a bad host you are."_

 _"Aw Mom..."_

 _"Once! Out!"_

 _"Yes Mom." Once hurried away, clutching his guitar. Norma's dislike for the woman doubled._

 _"He wasn't bothering me; I liked it very much."_

 _"Well, it bothered me. I really should pawn that thing, but maybe some lucky check will drop from the sky." She eyed Norma suggestively._

 _"I'm really tired," Norma fibbed._

 _"Get some rest; your parents have been contacted. Boy were they worried."_

 _Half an hour later Adelaide and Henry were smothering their daughter with hugs, kisses, and tearful lectures about how she scared them half to death._

 _"Oh Norma, you could've died! Do you what that means? Norma, you'll be the death of me!" Adelaide clung to her child like some fairy would snatch her away. "Don't ever do that again, understand?"_

 _"Yes Mother."_

 _"I've felt horrible if you didn't come back," Henry added. "I would never have forgiven myself. To think that you were all alone on the great prairie- Norma how could you?"  
"I'm so thankful you found her," Adelaide told Once's mother, who happened to be named Isabella. "Can we every repay you?"  
"Oh, gosh, it's just common decency. I dunno, we only gave her some broth. It's rather shabby here, I'm afraid. Had to give her my bed, the best bed in the house! Isn't saying much, really."_

 _"Here." Henry placed a hundred-dollar bill in her hand. "I'm sure this will get you a new bed."_

 _"Oh you shouldn't- well, I'll take it as a sign of your generosity." Isabella smiled, running her fingers over the crisp bill. Once rolled his eyes but showed no objection._

 _"We must leave now," Adelaide said, somewhat disapprovingly (Norma didn't care for Isabella but couldn't see what her mother had against her). "We needn't intrude on your hospitality. Norma, say thank you and good bye."_

 _"Thank you for saving my life, and good day." Norma curtsied. "And thanks for playing guitar, Once. I really liked it."_

 _"Really?" He grinned. "I'm glad you did."_

 _"Come Norma." The adults bid their farewells. Henry carried Norma to their rusty jalopy. While content to be with her parents again, the girl felt less than guilty about running away; after all, she got two new friends out of it._

 _"Night sky and Once..." she murmured to herself. "I ain't seeing you both just once."_


	3. Chapter 3

"Aw you missed me." The grumpy hermit peered between the nailed up boards in his top window to see the lanky youth brushing the dirt off his t-shirt on the ground below.

"What?" the kid sputtered.

"You're back already. Clearly you missed me... a little, right?" The old man clung onto a feeling he hadn't entertained since God knows when: hope.

"No, I didn't. I just- I'm here to hear the rest of the story." Ted Wiggins hoped this wouldn't take too long. He considered explaining the not-so-secret door and how someone like O'Hare could easily shut him out of Thneedville forever. But that would just take up even more time.

"Why are you so interested in trees, anyway?" the old fellow grumbled. "Why aren't you like other kids, break-dancing and wearing bell-bottoms and playing the Donkey Kongs?"

"Yeah right, right...yeah, I don't know," Ted replied coolly. "I just thought it would be cool to have one, you know."

"Ah, it's a girl, isn't it?"

"What? No."

"Really? Because when a guy does something stupid once, well, that's because he's a guy. But if he does the same stupid thing twice, that's usually to impress some girl," the aging man said, smiling through his mustache.

"Hey, she is not some girl!" Ted took to Audrey's defense. "She's a woman. In high school. And she loves trees. And I'm gonna get her one."

"Aw, how nice to someone so undeterred by things like, reality," the Once-ler commented dryly.

Reality, a sly mean old snake. It reminded of his mother, like this overly optimistic whippersnapper brought back old memories of his younger self. And _her_...

 _"I don't think this is a good idea." Once tightened the knotted rope. "The cord won't hold."_

 _"Maybe not for you, but for me it will." Norma tugged the leather strap connected by a rubber cord to two handles. "You'll see."_

 _"Norma, I found you half-dead once. I don't want to find you all the way dead today."_

 _"Once, don't worry. That was five years ago. I haven't gotten into any life threatening situations since."_

 _"Yeah right."_

 _"Don't 'yeah right' me."_

 _"What about the time we went swimming in the water hole alone when we were nine? Or jumping off the roof with parachutes I made? Or riding Melvin while standing up? You think that wasn't life threatening?"_

 _"We survived."_

 _"Let's be realistic. How many times can you get lucky?"_

 _"As many times as you want with me." Sporting a daredevil grin, Norma slung the leather over the thick rope cable Once had fastened to the bulky tree bough. "Get to the other side. You'll have to catch me or I'll slam into the trunk."_

 _"What if you're too heavy?"  
"You making fun of my weight?"_

 _"No, no, I'm going, I'm going." Once hopped down from the cottonwood tree they'd been crouching in and scampered down the grassy hill to a tree standing halfway to the base. With great reluctance Once had fastened the rope's other end at this tree._

 _"Hurry up, I wanna go!"_

 _"Alright, alright. Hold your horses." Once like Norma well enough- more than 'well enough' if he were being totally honest- but damn, she overwhelmed him at times. Utilizing his lean build, he shimmied up the narrow trunk with ease. He positioned himself in the heart of the gnarled branches, arms stretched out to catch his best friend if -when, he corrected himself- she reached the other side._

 _"Ready!"_

 _"Here I come!" Whooping, Norma launched herself off the uphill tree. Thank God, that cord held as she zipped down, cackling madly all the way._

 _Curly red hair flying, dark eyes glinting in glee, magenta cheeks radiating a childish charm. Once felt a slight flutter in his chest, but shoved it to the back of his mind as a hundred and twenty pound girl slammed into him._

 _"Ugh!" he grunted before the bloody cord snapped in two. The teenagers went flying backwards, crashing through a veil of cottonwood leaves into the open air. Once barely had time to register they were falling before his back smacked onto the ground._

 _"Ahhhhh!" The pair screamed in agony mixed with exhilaration as they rolled through the tall grass. Each gray stone or hard lump of earth jostled them further, creating a most uncomfortable ride for Once._

 _"I. Told. You. This. Was A. Bad. Idea!" he managed to say between tortured groans. Like a barrel on its side, they tumbled, one of top of another, until they hit the bottom. The ordeal finally over, Once moaned. The earth spinning like the globe in history class, a gigantic bump burgeoning on his head, his stomach...oh God. He hardly crawled an yard or two away when his lunch emptied into the pale green grass._

 _He would've felt self conscious about throwing up, especially around Norma, but she fared no better than him, so why be embarrassed?_

 _"I thought we were gonna die," she confessed after her stomach finished emptying itself. "You were right."_

 _"Yeah, I'm always right." Once broke out in a big grin. "But do you know what this means?"_

 _"We're never gonna do this again." She wiped her mouth in disgust. "Gross."_

 _"What? No way! My invention actually works! It works! And you just proved it!" Once began dancing a jig in spite of his previous doubt. "I made something that works! This is amazing!"_

 _"I need water to wash my mouth. Let's go, Once." Now the roles had been reversed. Oh well._

 _"Just a few modifications, then mankind can fly like a bird! I feel like singing!"_

 _"Please don't."_

 _"I won't, since my mouth tastes terrible, but after I get some water I sure as hell will."_

 _Unable to resist his charming optimism, Norma playfully punched him in the arm. "I guess we got something to sing about. We're alive after falling out of a tree and rolling down a hill. We've defied reality."_

 _"Yes, yes, we've defied reality!" Once crowed. "Take that reality!"_

 _"Save your breath. It can't hear you."_

 _"I don't care!" Saying this never got old._

The old Once-ler sighed as Ted sped away on his scooter again. _I don't care_...after using that beloved phrase to lessen the guilt he felt for the forest, it got old fast. Maybe reality heard him say it too many times.


End file.
